Telecom operators have witnessed an increase of 15% to 20% increase in voice calls in the initial days of the lockdown, ET Telecom reports. A senior telecom executive who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity said that the operators witnessed spike in the voice in the days leading to lockdown and days following the announcement. Further, the telecom executive said that the frequency of calls have come down as the large migrant population have headed back to their hometowns. However, the executive told the publication that the time spent on each call has increased which implies that average spike have remained the same throughout the lockdown period.
Voice Calls Offer Sense of Security and Familiarity
Tarun Pathak, associate director, mobile services and ecosystems at Counterpoint Research told the publication that voice offers a sense of security and familiarity which can be a good way to beat loneliness.
"Voice has this ability to connect strongly as against messaging or chatting,” Pathak told ET Telecom. “Additionally, the usage of voice has even shot up for enterprises which are in touch with their employees. You don’t want to send a Zoom invite for everything.”
It has to be noted that Zoom, a popular video conferencing app was at the top of the charts on Google Play Store for several days in March. The app witnessed an increase in downloads in several countries including India as people used the app for both professional and personal use.
Further, Pathak added that the calls per day have spiked to 50% in certain cases while the duration increased by almost a third.
Voice Call Usage Have Doubled During Lockdown
The publication noted that Indian users on average talked for 800 minutes per month through voice calls, which was said to be the highest across the globe. The lockdown, however, has resulted in a substantial increase in the usage of voice calls.
Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst at TechArc told the publication that his firm determined that smartphone users can be segregated into three groups of eight hours, four hours and two hours.
The usage has doubled during the lockdown and this will impact call volumes," Kawoosa told ET Telecom.
